Friend Bill Brown's 30+ footer out of the top of the 3rd (chimney/layback) pitch on Recompense somewhere around '73. I caught him on a hip belay and had a burn scar across my lower back for about 5 months. We rapped off and didn't return for about a year.

my 20 footer off Way In The Wilderness when the pillar completely collapsed on me just before the pin. fell onto a 22cm screw & Screamer, which completely deployed & saved my ass... Toby Savage caught my fall. I still have that Screamer.

Bruce Kumph trying to do the f/a of Diagonal at cathedral around '68 ? Rope solo.

He fell off the bulge and stopped ,unconscious atop the first pitch of Standard. I'm guessing this around 150' at least. The "rescue" party could not get up Standard and bruce had to solo down after coming to...

I remember Al Rubin telling a story of someone taking a huge fall on Diagonal. I never heard anything else about it, and wondered if it ever really happened. The way he told it, the rope caught on a small tree which saved him from ground fall.... the only tree in the area. Nice to know the particulars.

DLottmann

Bruce Kumph trying to do the f/a of Diagonal at cathedral around '68 ? Rope solo.

He fell off the bulge and stopped ,unconscious atop the first pitch of Standard. I'm guessing this around 150' at least. The "rescue" party could not get up Standard and bruce had to solo down after coming to...

I remember Al Rubin telling a story of someone taking a huge fall on Diagonal. I never heard anything else about it, and wondered if it ever really happened. The way he told it, the rope caught on a small tree which saved him from ground fall.... the only tree in the area. Nice to know the particulars.

Bruce told me this story in the company of Al... crazyremember, bruce was a Draper lab guy, a bit crazy anyway

He pendulumed way left (over that big block) and landed in the trees.So the fall was maybe 150, with a 50 pengy added on.

BITD a very well known local guide (we'll call him Kurt attempting to do the second ascent of P2 Grand Finale on Cathedral.

Fires all the way to the belay ledge and then peels off, knee scraping many feet along the lip of the Mordor Wall !!!! Very glad he didn't go 3' lower 'cause I don't know if the rope would survive the swing.

My work on ladders has convinced me trhat most climbing storys involve a serious ammount of Climbers math When you stand at the top of a 28ft ladder and look down, then you realize that the working height is only 24ft mor likly 22ft even if you stand on the top rung OSHA be damned. now look down and think of that last 30footer you took. probobly not as far as that 24ft you are looking at from your ladder.

Climbers math goes a bit like this.The first time a story is told the run out and fall lengths are about 2/3rds of the actual distance and the dificulty of the runout is usually correct or slightly inflated. Depending on how much booze is consumed by the time the story has been told half a dozen times the distances are more like 1/2 the real value and the dificulty has grown by at least a grade

All that being said and keeping in mind that i do not drink. My upside down screamer out of the great dihedral a few years ago must have been real close to 30ft. apretty sure that the bolt is about 12 to 15 ft from the LA and there is some slack and rope streatch to factor in.

Took a long gear ripper off of Mt Horrid one december adventure climbing. Iced up crack, over dressed and socks in my rock shoes. Can't fee climb for crap when i have too many cloths on and feel like I should be ice climbing that one was close to 30 as well.. a few other close calls on shorter falls with bad things to hit.